Entries from February 2006

Telegraph – Cameron takes a faltering step into nappy minefield David Cameron’s attempt to show off his parenting skills backfired yesterday when he came in for criticism from environmentalists after revealing that his children used disposable nappies. … His response was seized upon by campaigners who claim that disposable nappies damage the environment because many […]

Times2 – Stop press: the sad decline of local newspapers, by Richard Morrison Why should you care? The answer is that there will be even fewer newspapers around in future with the resources to investigate incompetent or corrupt councils, campaign against hospital closures or over-reaching developers, put a rocket up the backsides of police forces […]

Opinion Journal – Meathead Economics: Hollywood liberals drive productive Californians to leave the state It takes hard work to drive anyone away from California’s sunshine and scenic vistas, but politicians in Sacramento have been up to the task. The latest Census Bureau data indicate that, in 2005, 239,416 more native-born Americans left the state than […]

Wheat & Weeds – Read This First (Intro. to Part 16) & So Persecuted They The Prophets Reading the second one, it’s really quite funny, until you consider that these people are supposed to be on their way to church. I didn’t see the “Read This First” though, but when I did, I realized that […]

Two bad jokes in one day. Infinitives Unsplit – Snigger Knock, knock.<br/> Who’s there?<br/> Europe.<br/> Europe who?<br/> No, you’re a poo. Arthur’s Seat – Thought for the Day A bear, a lion and a chicken meet. <br/> Bear says: “If I roar in the forests of America the entire forest is shivering with fear.” <br/> […]

Telegraph – The single market and Gallic delusions In a bid to be elected to office for the first time in his life, Dominique de Villepin has espoused the doctrine of “economic patriotism”. Oh lord. Economic patriotism may gain votes in a nation neurotically prone to see its self-inflicted decline as part of a vast […]

The Times – One kid’s blast against bigotry, by Libby Purves These people are not “activists” or even “extremists” as mealy-mouthed news bulletins like to put it. They are terrorists. Death threats and physical attack are their prime arguments. They are, in some ways, more horrifying than the Abu Hamzas who threaten all unbelievers and […]

Telegraph – Japan’s fashion rebels embrace tradition Japan’s teenage girls have returned to Earth after a decade lost in a bizarre fashion universe all their own. Their scary-looking Ganguro, or black faces, whose deep orangey tans were offset by white lipstick, are now sighted as rarely as the yetis they were said to resemble. Their […]

Telegraph – Spy Moore terror Michael Gove may have abandoned full-time journalism for politics when he became Tory MP for Surrey Heath last year, but don’t imagine for a moment that he has put down his pen. I hear that Gove – recently appointed a junior spokesman on housing by David Cameron – will shortly […]

I had no idea. Telegraph – Your view: the Oscars If Reese Witherspoon wins, I’ll be pissed. Not only does she annoy the crap out of me, she skipped the Baftas without even having the decency to make up an excuse. I hate that. My reviews of the nominees are here, btw.

Two items on the, ah, life in religion: The Telegraph – Challenging the Church Five times in the last 2,000 years the Church has to all appearances gone to the dogs,” wrote GK Chesterton. “In each case it was the dogs that died.” He was writing about the Catholic Church, as it happens, but the […]

The Telegraph – Power to the people, not anarchy in the UK Faced with a fall in enthusiasm for politics among adults, the Power Inquiry – most of whose members were young in the 1970s – reports today that the voting age should be lowered to 16. There is something a little embarrassing about the […]

The Telegraph – Homefront. By James O’Shaughnessy An Englishman’s home is a broom cupboard (“The author is head of research at Policy Exchange. ‘Better Homes, Greener Cities’ is available at www.policyexchange.org.uk“) But it hasn’t always been like this. Those lucky enough to live in homes built before the 1940s enjoy high architectural standards in well-designed […]